Here are some of my favorite images from The Iroquois Club and Moose Preserve wedding photos I took in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan with Melissa and Joe – I’ve driven past Bloomfield Hills Michigan’s The Iroquois Club and Moose Preserve many times. I had no idea it was available as a wedding site or could host wedding receptions.

The bride and groom pose at the entrance of the Iroquois Club in Bloomfield Hills during their wedding.

“First Look” at the entrance of The Iroquois Club in Bloomfield Michigan.

Two flower girls wait inside a bookshelf at the Iroquois Club in Bloomfield Hills Michigan.

Two flower girls play with their petals during a small, family wedding at Bloomfield Hill’s Iroquois Club during the ceremony.

Wedding photo of the bride and groom at the Moose Preserve at Bloomfield Hills Michigan’s Iroquois Club.

Melissa and Joe had a wonderful, tight knit family wedding at the Iroquois Club for an intimate brunch wedding. We also had access to the popular Moose Preserve to take wedding photos there. The inside is rustic, but Melissa and Joe loved the variety of wedding photos we were able to take within the Moose Preserve. I personally loved how many different textures and backgrounds we were able to use as wedding photo backgrounds at the Iroquois Club in Bloomfield as this was a winter wedding as using their outdoor areas wasn’t really an option. I didn’t see many samples of wedding photography from either the Moose Preserve or The Iroquois Club in Bloomfield Hills, so I wanted to share a few of my favorites from the day.

This was a new one for me! A wedding day “First Look” prank 10 minutes after I met the groom!

I shoot a lot of Michigan wedding First Look photos and they are a great way to get lots of photos out of the way before hand. It also helps with the general flow of the wedding day so wedding couples can flow more naturally from their wedding ceremony to their wedding reception. It also helps with calming jittery nerves.

Usually the first look is an emotional, fun or at least a “phew… got that out of the way” event. I personally have never photographed a Michigan wedding First Look prank.

What really settles wedding couples’ nerves on their wedding day? A good laugh! Here’s the best wedding day “First Look” prank I’ve ever seen!

After meeting the groom, Gene, last Saturday, he asked me if I’d help facilitate him in playing a prank on his bride. Sure! Amanda, the bride, had a very clear image in her mind how she wanted the “first look” to happen.

Gene asked if he could substitute his cousin for himself for the first look. You tell me… hilarious, or what?!
Here’s Gene’s cousin rounding the corner to meet an unsuspecting Amanda.

The groom’s cousin pretends to be the groom during the “first look”.

Troy, Michigan bride and groom hold hands during their “first look” before their wedding ceremony.

First look with the real Michigan bride and groom

Here’s perhaps the most adorable “Thank You” image I’ve ever had the pleasure to shoot. The shy, but silly flower girl and ring bearer helped make this a super fun and memorable Thank You card for my Troy, Michigan wedding couple.

It’s Michigan, it rains and it’s senior portrait season! Photographing in terrible weather is par for the course. What you don’t realize is that it can create dynamic, dramatic and really unique senior photos.

As a photographer who always creates studios on location (or as you may like to call it: outdoors), weather is always an issue. Maybe all States have some sort of saying about how terrible and unpredictable their weather is, but here in Michigan the saying is, “Wait ten minutes and it will change”.

Many of my photography clients are nervous about crummy weather forecasts, especially rain. And while it’s true that actual rain isn’t great to shoot in (think drowned rat look… not a great look for anyone), pending rain and overcast conditions are perfect for creating dramatic photographic portraits.

Wind can also add a flare of the dramatic and dynamic to any photo. My senior girls benefit from this the most and tend to fear it as well. Don’t worry… it helps photos… just bring a brush!

So before you rush to cancel or reschedule your Michigan senior photography shoot, ask your photographer what you can do to tweak the time forward or back to take full advantage or a pending storm!

She said, “Yes”!
So what’s a Detroit proposal photographer or engagement photographer AND wedding photojournalist to do when asked to shoot a proposal in single digit Detroit weather at a location that doesn’t allow photography AND be able to include the bride’s reaction as the groom to be drops to his knee AND a plane goes by with the question dangling from a banner behind it? Sorry for the run on sentence… there was a lot to include about this specific proposal and engagement photography shoot! Well… she hems and haws and starts plotting, of course!

Here’s the skinny… I brought my son along so I could shoot him (he needed his theater head shots updated anyways) so that I wouldn’t be standing there freezing AND doing nothing! Here’s the resulting headshot I shot while I wasn’t “shooting”.

It was freezing cold and Michael wasn’t sure the plane was coming after all, so he dropped to his knee and proposed (without the plane, mind you). I took the photo and after introducing myself, made quick work of the plane circling around. NOT photojournalism per say, but I was able to create the photo Michael had in his mind. The following are her genuine reactions to the proposal;

Michigan proposal photographed at Cranbrook

Bride to be shows off the engagement ring she just received after an outdoors surprise proposal.

This is what a newly engaged woman looks like! This was taken ten minutes after she received her engagement ring in Detroit, Michigan.

Newly engaged bride to be shows off her ring after a surprise winter proposal.

After photographing their Detroit area proposal, I photographed the newly engaged couple.

This Michigan proposal photographer also included a quick portrait session so they could include the photos in their announcements.

A fun, artsy winter portrait on a newly engaged couple just after their proposal was photographed in Detroit, Michigan.

Loving the mix of formal, casual and country looks this couple blended, I love this classic wedding party photo taken on the Michigan farm where the wedding and reception were held.

Molly and Ray’s Michigan Farm & Country Wedding Photography – This was one of the most intimate, personalized and well themed weddings I’ve ever been lucky enough to shoot. Anybody who knows me or reads my blog knows I LOVE small, “simpler”, outdoors, country and farm weddings in backyards. This particular Michigan “backyard” happened to be a working farm! Some of you may be wondering why on earth I didn’t post the color versions of this country farm wedding. The wedding photos do look stunning in color, but I personally thought they looked so classic and spoke to me in a way that I can’t articulate by showing them in black and white. Here are just a few of my favorite images from Molly and Ray’s country farm wedding in Michigan. Molly (and Ray) spent a great deal of time finding and creating really cool cowboy themed wedding things and unique reception floral arrangements. Everything was lovely, extremely Pinterest worthy and deserving of a completely different blog. For this one, I wanted to emphasize how a feeling from a day can come through loud and clear just by having one photographer carry a sense of style through the entire wedding to create a unique and in this case, timeless feel. Enjoy!

The groom adjusts his groomsmen’s ties before his country wedding on his family farm in Michigan.

Wedding favors at this Michigan country wedding include personalized cowboy hats.

A group of wedding guests are pulled by tractor to the country wedding site in a cornfield in Michigan.

A bagpiper plays at an outdoors Michigan country wedding on a farm.

The Groom’s sister walks the couples dog down the aisle at a farm wedding in Michigan.

The groomsmen and the groom wander over the hill from a cornfield at an outdoors, country Michigan wedding.

The groom’s parents have a quiet embrace just before the Michigan wedding ceremony started on the country farm wedding they hosted.

A Michigan bride is walked down the aisle by both parents at a Michigan country farm wedding.

Rice was thrown at this Michigan outdoors, country wedding on a farm.

A wonderful dip under a huge blue sky looks even more dramatic in black and white! These portraits were taken next to the farm wedding site in Michigan.

The wedding couple poses for a classic wedding photo on the Michigan farm where they were married.

The bride and groom had their dog as part of their Michigan farm wedding ceremony.

What’s more practical for a country / farm wedding than having the bride and bridesmaids wearing cowboy boots? Super cute and super practical since they did a lot of walking during this Michigan farm wedding.

This Michigan farm wedding had the groomsmen arriving in a classic pick up truck to the country wedding. I wanted to recreate that with the whole wedding party.

The best man drives the classic pick up after an outdoors, country Michigan wedding.

I just love the classic look and feel of this wedding as the bridal party head off in a pick up truck after having their wedding party photos taken in a field at this Michigan country wedding.

Michigan country wedding had a path leading through the cornfield to the wedding.

Michigan outdoors country farm wedding help the photographer move her props after their wedding photography shoot.

Michigan wildflower bouquet is gorgeous… even in black and white.

The groom dances with his mother during the mother/son dance at his family’s barn wedding in Michigan.